Custom

Duane Eric Lavold (June 15, 1967 – December 18, 2021), better known by his stage name Custom, was a Canadian-born, New York-based rock musician and filmmaker best known for his song “Hey Mister."

Biography Lavold expressed his fandom for The White Stripes, Remy Zero, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Deftones' White Pony album.

He was 6 feet 8 inches tall.

Growing up in rural Canada, Lavold's interests as a youngster varied from skiing to playing cello and keyboard. He recorded his earliest songs on cassette. After high school, Lavold turned his focus to the international commerce program at Brown University. While at the school, he met aspiring singer-songwriter Duncan Sheik, who would become a collaborator several years later. He directed the short film Loafing, which was the winner of the Audience Award at the 1997 Slamdance Film Festival, and the unreleased film Limp starring INXS singer Michael Hutchence. Hutchence's suicide occurred shortly after principal photography, creating complications that resulted in the film never seeing the light of day. Lavold left Virgin Records in 2001 after accusing Nancy Berry, the label's vice chairman, of leaving threatening voicemails. He released those messages to music and send the CDs to Virgin's lawyers and her husband and former EMI head Ken Berry. Lavold threatened legal action and was released from his contract, choosing to sign with newly created ARTISTdirect after a "bidding war" for his rights. ARTISTdirect's Ted Field had previously worked at Interscope Records and was involved in the rise of Eminem.

Lavold chose a stage name to open up the possibility for performing with a full-band setup. Custom was picked because Duane's first name was a single letter off of the French word for customs, douane. He performed most of the album by himself.

After the dissolution of ARTISTdirect, Lavold continued making music, though most of it was not released and he never issued another album. Lavold's original concept for the music video involved storming the White House and singing the song's lyrics to then-President George W. Bush and attempting to seduce his daughters Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush. However, the concept was scrapped after the September 11 attacks because "making fun of the president while you're at war is probably not a good idea," according to Lavold. The lyrics "Hey mister, I really like your daughter, I want to eat her like ice cream, maybe dip her in chocolate" were believed to be written about an underage girl, and while the subject of the video was 22 years old during filming, MTV believed that she was "prepubescent." Lavold said they generally took issue with the music video and the song itself, branding it "a woman-hating anthem."